Your Problem with Evolution
No matter your position on the role of evolution on the creation of living creatures, there is compelling evidence to suggest that naturally occurring forces in nature serve to favor survival for more adaptable species. We know that gene mutations happen, and that the resultant expression of those genes can create advantages and disadvantages, depending on prevailing local environmental pressures.
For example (courtesy of Danielle Whittaker, BEACON, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center) treefrogs are sometimes eaten by snakes and birds. If you’re a Green Treefrog, you will be easily seen—and eaten—if you’re living on the bark of a tree vs. on a green leaf. Therefore, nature would favor genes that enabled Green Treefrogs to survive on leafy habitats, leaving the Gray Treefrogs to enjoy the habitats that are predominantly tree bark. You get eaten; you don’t get to make baby treefrogs.
. . . it’s evident that the genes for stupidity have no naturally occurring forces that would eliminate them from our genetic code.
Here’s a problem—the forces of nature on the evolution of humans don’t really exist anymore. Sure, slow runners of our prehistoric ancestors were the ones eaten by ravenous tigers, leaving the genes of fast runners to propagate. And here’s a bit of data: 1) I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my life, the details of which aren’t relevant here, so just take my word for it, and 2) I have three children.
So, here’s YOUR problem: there’s a very good chance (hopefully, because my wife and I are wanting grandchildren who we can spoil without suffering the direct, daily consequences), that my specific trait for stupidity will continue to course through your gene pool. Seeing stupidity all around us (just read the front page of the newspaper or watch cable news), it’s evident that the genes for stupidity have no naturally occurring forces that would eliminate them from our genetic code.
There are many other remnants, or mutations, of genes that leave us with conditions we’re stuck with. A really big one is fear, where everything we encounter is processed in the emotional centers of our brains, EASILY triggering fear and having our best intentions - and capacity for critical thinking - hijacked. Our brains aren’t good at putting mundane, non-threatening fears into perspective, and we feel them as if they’re mortal.
A manifestation of fear run amok is evidenced in the intrinsic biases we all carry subconsciously. For instance, we see someone who clearly looks or sounds differently than we do, and we immediately default to a tribal instinct, feeling them as the other, or the enemy. If we just thought about it for a couple seconds (or less), we could compartmentalize that fear and usurp it with rational thinking that opens us up to the joys of diversity. Fear doesn’t go away, though, it’s just quieted by using one part of the brain to tell the other that the feeling is intellectually inaccurate.
If our goal is to become a better species, we could start by seizing conscious control of some of our natural, dysfunctional brain responses. Maybe easier said than done, but it is entirely doable, and the sooner we start, the happier we’ll be.